Bar Owners, Contractors and Developers Line Up to Donate to Batt, But Money’s Not Everything In District A

Jay’s website says he is “offering himself in service to the people of New Orleans.” With the release of Batt’s campaign report, we’re getting a picture of who expects service from Jay. First, the expected. Urban Systems, Volkert & Associates, Boh family members, Linfield, Hunter & Junius, Stuart Consulting Group, N-Y Associates, all of whom profit from large public infrastructure projects, gave generously to Batt. Batt also received $ 500 from Bourbon St. bar owner Earl Berhardt’s the Tropical Isle (home of the “hand-grenade”cocktail) but that was only half what Isle gave Batt in 2006. However, Batt’s report shows no donation from Bernhardt’s the Funky Pirate, which gave Batt $ 500 in the last election. Batt also got donations from Mulate’s and two alcoholic beverage distributors.

Attachment:   Batt Campaign Contributions 1/1/09-10/29/09

Batt is supported by the owners of dilapidated properties on Jeff Davis near Canal and by Vincent Marcello, Jr., whose blighted houses are covered with Batt’s campaign signs.
Attachment:   Click here for more information (PDF)

What you’ve heard is true. It's 2010, and Jay Batt is running in District A again, hoping to bring his "who-you-know" politics back to the City Council. Though Jay lost the last election because he didn’t understand the importance of neighborhoods, you can expect to see a slick, expensive campaign touting the "new, neighborhood-friendly Jay Batt.”

Don’t be fooled.

Jay and his supporters would like nothing more than a return to the policies of his first term, where Jay’s buddies always managed to get what they wanted, including permits for new bars, consulting contracts on video poker, and a $250,000 “voter education” contract for a childhood friend and campaign advisor.


2006 Runoff Election results for District A Council Seat, when Batt was defeated for a 2nd term by Shelley Midura. Attachment:   2006 District A Election Results by Precinct

When Jay Batt first ran for office, he promised to end "consultant contracts," where friends of politicians are hired to lobby for government contracts. However, once Batt was in office, his associates began receiving consulting contracts. Now, the TP has revealed that Batt buddy Bryan Wagner has a contract to receive 3.2% of all fines collected from motorists caught by red light cameras installed in Jefferson Parish. Wagner, who has been joined at the hip with Batt in everything from Bruno’s Bar to society balls, is a former City Councilman and insurance executive who has a history of earning large fees by selling insurance contracts to public entities. In 2005, the State Ethics Board condemned the practice of splitting fees from insurance contracts, a practice that earned an 11-member "commission," of which Wagner was a member, a total of $500,000 in 2005. Wagner has now apparently moved into the traffic camera business.

Big Profits from Camera Contract
On January 26, 2010, the TP reported that Wagner was hired by Redflex Traffic Systems of Phoenix, AZ, to lobby the Jefferson Parish Council for a contract to install and manage traffic cameras at nine Jefferson Parish locations. Wagner had his associate, Julie Murphy, wife of Jefferson Parish Judge Robert Murphy, lobby for Redflex in meetings with various Jefferson Parish Councilmembers. Wagner’s 3.2% of the $19.7 million dollars in fines collected thus far adds up to over $600,000, and if the revenues continue at the current rate, Wagner can expect to take in approximately $300,000 a year.

By John Pope, The Times-Picayune, February 04, 2010

Jay Batt, who is campaigning to regain his District A seat on the City Council, has launched an attack on rival Susan Guidry based on the actions of one of her key supporters, City Councilwoman Shelley Midura.

Using what might be considered twisted logic, Batt concludes that Guidry is soft on crime because of her association with Midura, who ousted Batt from the seat four years ago and is not running for re-election.

Midura last month voted against a compromise city budget that sent about $6.4 million to the district attorney's office, an increase of nearly $700,000 from last year, because she said she didn't trust the Nagin administration's revenue projections. In an earlier version of the budget that assumed lower revenues, Midura had approved a $200,000 reduction for the DA, from $5.8 million to $5.6 million.

Guidry "has publicly stated her unwavering support for action of the sitting council member from District A," Batt said in a prepared statement. "By linking her platform to the incumbent's record, she has endorsed every action of her mentor."

Firing back, Guidry in a prepared statement called Batt's criticism of her false: "He's clearly trying to mislead the voters. How can voters trust anything he says?"

By Michelle Krupa, The Times-Picayune, February 10, 2010

Former District A Councilman Jay Batt has sought the seat four times since 2000, and he's landed in a runoff every time. So far, he's one for three, with a March 6 runoff on tap.

The Republican businessman entered his latest race as the favorite against three political newcomers. But after the votes were tallied Saturday night, lawyer Susan Guidry, a Democrat, led Batt 44 percent to 39 percent.

Despite his claims of spending his time out of office for the past four years working for the good of the citizens of New Orleans and District A, Jay Batt has actually been spending the last four years building himself a new house and "carefully building the foundation of a political comeback".

Reprinted in part from a BayouBuzz.com article that appeared July 17, 2009

New Orleans District A Councilwoman Shelley Midura surprised some by her announcement that she would not run for a second term. The man who would have been her likely opponent, former Councilman Jay Batt, immediately sent a statement that commended Midura’s efforts—and all but telegraphed a likely run regardless.

In an extended statement on Wednesday, Midura wrote, “After much thought and reflection, I have decided that I will not be a candidate for re-election to the District "A" City Council seat in 2010. Having experienced first-hand the challenges of running a long-shot campaign in 2006, I wanted to make this decision publicly as early as possible for the benefit of potential candidates in District ‘A’ so they may have enough time to decide whether to seek election. I believe the City Council will benefit from continued new blood at the dais and look forward to supporting a candidate who will pick up the mantle of reform and continue the march toward good government.”

Midura, known as one of the most outspoken members of the Council went on to bemoan the political ambition found in her fellow politicians. “My personal goal for public service never was to build a Midura family political machine. Indeed, career public servants too often forget that "service" is to the public, rather than to themselves. Too often the political courage needed to confront the most difficult decisions we as public officials must make is compromised in the quest for re-election or election to the next public office.”

A new radio spot, reviewing Jay's record in some important respects

Click here for audio clip

Two of the New Orleans City Council's so-called "reformers," who were elected after Hurricane Katrina, aren't running for re-election this spring.

But that doesn't mean they're not a part of the upcoming election.

Voters in Mid-City, Lakeview and Uptown, among other neighborhoods, in Council District A will either choose a new council member, or the man who held the seat before the storm.

“Recycling the same old politicians won't get us a new start,” said Susan Guidry, a lawyer and neighborhood activist who is hoping to take up where Councilwoman Shelley Midura leaves off.

“I hope people do not sit back in their Lay-z-boys and let name recognition be the reason that they cast a vote,” Midura said while endorsing Guidry in the race Monday.

Link URL:   wwltv.com (includes video clip)

She's not making nice with old foe

From the Times-Picayune:

Tuesday, December 22, 2009
By David Hammer and Michelle Krupa
Staff writers

Shelley Midura won her seat on the City Council in a knock-down, drag-out fight with Jay Batt in 2006. Now that she's leaving the District A seat and Batt is trying to get it back, Midura's got a parting shot for her old foe.

She's endorsing Susan Guidry, a political outsider who once fought against one of Batt's biggest supporters.

"The circumstances are very similar now," Midura, a Democrat, said about the upcoming race pitting Republican Batt against Republican Virginia Blanque and Democrat Susan Guidry.

Batt "was beatable then, and he's beatable now," Midura said. "I believe the future rests with new citizen leaders, not the reconditioned politicians of the past."

Link URL:   Times Picayune

BATT WAKES GOP: The message from the movers and shakers in the city's Republican Party was loud and clear: They are committed to taking back the District A seat on the City Council that they lost in 2006 after a run of more than a quarter-century.

A who's who of the local GOP hierarchy was out in force Thursday morning to lend support to businessman and former Councilman Jay Batt, who won the seat in 2002 but saw his re-election bid derailed by upstart Democrat Shelley Midura.

Now that Midura has announced she will not seek a second term, Batt appears to be the candidate to beat -- and his fellow Republicans will be there to help. Only Mid-City civic activist Virginia Blanque, who in recent years has been registered as a Republican, has said she will challenge Batt for the seat representing the western swath of the city from Lakeview to Uptown.

The first candidates' forum in the District A City Council race was notable for an unlikely reason: Everyone was on their best behavior.

Four years after Shelley Midura unseated Jay Batt in a slug-fest, the four candidates running to replace Midura, who is not seeking a second term, didn't even address each other Monday night, much less criticize each other.

Jay Batt will make it official today when he enters the race for the District A City Council seat he lost in 2006.

Batt, a Republican businessman who was ousted by political newcomer Shelley Midura, has made clear from the moment of his defeat that he wanted his old job back. After months of behind-the-scenes planning, he will announce his candidacy this morning at the casino building in City Park.

Midura, a Democrat who came out of nowhere to break the Republican Party's 26-year hold on the seat, said in July that she will not seek re-election. Her exit made Batt, who chairs the Orleans Parish Republican Party's Executive Committee, the early front-runner.

The absence of an incumbent in the race was expected to draw a crowded field. But to date, only Mid-City civic activist Virginia Blanque has said she definitely is running for the seat representing Lakeview, Carrollton and sections of Uptown and Mid-City.

Lakeview activist Deborah Langhoff, who lost a 2007 bid for a state House seat, also is considering the council contest.

In his bid to reclaim the Distirct A seat on the New Orleans City Council, former Councilman Jay Batt will have at least two opponents in the Feb. 6 primary — one a fellow Republican and one a Democrat. The Republican is Virginia Blanque, a businesswoman who also has worked for at-large Councilman Arnie Fielkow. The Democrat is attorney Susan Guidry, who also is president of the Parkview Neighborhood Association.

Clancy DuBos, on Gambit's blogofneworleans.com

Due to popular demand, we have provided Batt's 2004 and 2005 Candidate's Campaign Reports for download at the end of this article.

The expenses section of the reports show LOTS of meals in our local fine restaurants, while the contributor list has some familiar names.